Toms' Creek
Hundred was located in Northern Frederick County, and was made up
of little settlements of farms and mills. (click here for a map of the Toms Creek Hundred geographical area) Because it was completely isolated
from Frederick Town, it was hard to get news about Maryland. The
only way the citizens could communicate with each other was to
hold various public meetings. These meetings were held at
taverns, churches and mills. The Maryland General Assembly
sponsored the creation of several taverns along main roads for use
by the public. These taverns were used by communities by means of
getting information from travelers or public postings of new laws
that the General Assembly of Maryland had passed for the Royal
Crown.
The coming of
a war for Independence in Frederick County started in April of
1765 with Parliament's Stamp Act. Frederick County reacted with
violence. The settlements of Tom's Creek Hundred became involved
with the revolt. October of 1769 wagons that would come from
Pennsylvania were being seized and stored at the owner's expense,
because they did not have the proper certificates. Because of the
Stamp Act many wagons were being impounded, and this outraged the
local citizens.
On August 28,
1770, a meeting was held in a local schoolhouse near Toms Creek.
These meetings were generally held in several Maryland counties to
protest these import duties. John Troxell who owned and operated a
mill near Tom's Creek was present at the meeting along with other
Toms Creek hundred residents. James Smith from Elizabethtown
(Hagerstown area) concluded the meeting, as he said, "Declaring
their loyalty to the King and their country." Another man by the
name of John Parks who was present at this meeting stated, "That
the item would be boycotted." Ironically John Parks became a Tea
Merchant.
In 1775, as the
Revolutionary War progressed, several regiments were raised in
Frederick County Maryland. A Militia Regiment was established and
consisted of two companies ready for military use that was formed
in Toms Creek Hundred. First, was the Game Cock Company under the command of
Captain William Blair. They were called the Game Cock
Company because of
the plum feathers that they had when they wore their hats. The
Game Cock Company proved their bravery at White Plains New York
during Washington’s retreat. The second company was under the
command of Captain William Shields, who also participated in the
battle of White Plains. These companies together produced more
than a hundred soldiers that were ready for military use.
There were two
other companies raised in Frederick County outside of Toms' Creek
Hundred, Captain Jacob Ambrose’s company of militia and also
Captain Benjamin Ogle’s company of militia. These two companies
also raised more than a hundred soldiers for military duty. These
two companies also saw military service at White Plains, New
York. This was a disastrous defeat for the Continental Army;
however, General Washington managed to save his army from defeat
with a rear guard battle that consisted of the Maryland Troops.
As General
George Washington rode into the area, members of the Maryland
Militia flocked to join the Continental Army as they marched for
New York. At the Battle of White Plains the Maryland 400 was given
credit for turning the tide of the War. General Washington even
complimented these troops from Tom's Creek Hundred who were from
Frederick County at Tera Ruba, saying that they hold a part of his
heart. General Washington made this statement at the home of a
wealthy family known as the Keys.
John Ross Key
was born on September 19th, 1754 at Redland, Frederick County,
Maryland. Upon entering into the service of the Continental Army,
he was commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant of Captain Thomas Price's
Maryland Rifle Company. They were mustered into service at
Frederick, Maryland on June 21st, 1775. Captain Price’s Company
was one of the first Military forces that came to aid General
Washington’s overwhelmed army in Boston, July-August, 1775. By
1781, Captain John Ross Key commanded a Frederick County Company
of Cavalry during the Yorktown Campaign.
Little is
known about General Key after the Revolutionary War. John Key was
a judge in the state of Maryland where he resided the last days of
his life in a plantation located in what is now Carroll County
just outside of Tom’s Creek. He named his plantation Terra Ruba
after the Latin word meaning "red earth” because their plantation
soil was reddish in color.
In the
recollections of private Jacob Zoll, who served under Captain Key
and lived outside of Taneytown, Maryland in Frederick County, he
explains some of the mysteries that surround the second company
that was formed near the Tom's Creek Hundred under Captain William
Shields and how it connected to Captain John Ross Key and Henry
Williams.
(These
excerpts
are from the Indiana Historical Society.)
When Jacob
entered into service of the Maryland militia his Battalion
commander was Colonel Norman Bruce and second in command was Major
James Shields. His company commander was Captain John Ross Key,
which he enlisted in the Militia Service of the State of Maryland
in the County of Frederick on or about the first day of January
1776.
Jacob Zoll
volunteered for service in a Maryland Militia near Taneytown,
Maryland. Jacob stated: “I volunteered for three months in a
company with the majority of my neighbors who were able to bear
arms in Company of the Maryland Militia commanded by John Ross Key
at Taneytown in Frederick County, Maryland on the first day of
January in the year Ad 1776” Unfortunately, he received a written
discharge in April of 1776 by Captain John Ross Key personally and
it was signed by Colonel Norman Bruce who authorized his discharge
and was also signed by Captain John Ross Key."
During his
application for pension he talked about the officers that were in
charge of his company who belonged to the 4th Maryland Regiment.
Jacob Zoll stated: “From the great length of time I can only
recollect the name of General Putnam of the Continental
establishment and the regiment in which I served I think to the
best of my recollection was called the 4th Regiment of Maryland
Militia and commanded by Colonel Norman Bruce and Major James
Shields and was acquainted with General Smallwood commander of the
Maryland line of Regular Troops”.
Among the
names he mentioned that he served with Major James Shields who
enlisted as a private in 1775, Captain William Shields who was
promoted to First Major in 1776, Lieutenants Hockensmith, and
Thomas and Joseph Wilson. Captain John Ross Key who was Jacob
Zoll’s commander at the time of his enlistment. (Captain Price’s
Company re-organized at Frederick, Maryland and Thomas Price was
promoted to Colonel of the Second Maryland Regiment and Lieutenant
Key was promoted to Captain in 1776.
The names he
mentioned are associated with one of the two companies that were
raised near the present day Toms Creek area which he served with:
Captain William Shields; 1st Lieutenant, John Faire; 2nd
Lieutenant, Michael Hockensmith; Ensign, John Shields; Sergeants,
Charles Robinson, James Shields (who was promoted to Major 1776),
Patrick Haney, Robert Brown; Corporals, Moses Kennedy, John Hank,
John Long, Thomas Baird; 52 privates.
All companies
from Frederick County, Maryland were mustered into service with
Colonel William Smallwood. By February of 1777, the Maryland Line
was reorganized with five new regiments that were raised in
Maryland. Colonel William Smallwood of the Maryland 400 was
promoted to General and given command of a brigade, and French
General Debarre was given command of the other brigade. William
Blair was then promoted to Lieutenant Colonel of the Third
Battalion, and William Shields was given the rank of First Major of
the same command.
The German
regiment was formed by act of the Continental Congress, June
27,
1776. Pennsylvania had raised four companies and later a fifth
company was added, while Maryland raised four companies’
completing the organization of the German Regiment. The companies
of the German Regiment were to serve three years, unless sooner
discharged. The German Battalion unofficially referred to as the
8th Maryland Regiment under the command of Haussegger and DeArendt.
Nicholas Haussegger, major of the Fourth Battalion (Wayne’s), was
commissioned Colonel of the German Regiment. Pennsylvania
furnished by far the largest number of both of its officers and
recruits. The men from the Tom's Creek Hundred who served in
the German Regiment were Private John Patterson and Private
Michael Smith. Here they saw action at the Battle of White
Plains, New York.
The regiment
took part in the battles of Trenton, Princeton, Newtown,
Brandywine and Germantown. They encamped at Valley Forage and
witnessed the harsh winter. During May of 1777, the German
Regiment was transferred to the Deborre's brigade of Sullivan's
division. Colonel Haussegger left the army after the Battle of
Monmouth, and returned to his farm near Lebanon, PA. Lt Colonel
Weltner succeeded to the command. The German regiment took part in
Sullivan's campaign against the Indians, and in the spring of 1780
it was stationed on the frontier of Northumberland County. By
resolution of Congress, in October the German Regiment was reduced
and ended its organization January 1, 1781. Many of the soldiers
were transferred into the Maryland Continental Troops, part of the
3rd Maryland Regiment, where they marched back to Frederick and
then to Baltimore where they were re-equipped to go south to
Yorktown.
There were
several Flying Camp Battalions that were formed during the
Revolutionary War. In particular was a company of Flying Camp
that was mustered into service called Maroney’s Company. There
were several men from the Toms Creek Hundred Settlement that
served with Captain Philip Maroney’s Company. Frederick Beard and
Christian Smith were two of many citizens to live in the newly
formed town of Emmitsburg in 1785 that fought with this company.
Many townsmen of present day Emmitsburg often misunderstand this
company to be the famous Flying Camp Battalion that the Game Cock
Company was part of. The Game Company was formed a year earlier
and had left to serving under Colonel Smallwood. Listed below is
a copy of the muster roll of Captain Maroney’s Company of Flying
Camp:
“Roll of
Captain Philip Maroney’s Company, Flying Camp, Maryland August 5,
1776 -List of the members of Captain Philip Maroney’s Company, in
the Flying Camp, August 5, 1776, enlisted in the Middletown
District and elsewhere, Frederick County, Maryland.
Philip Maroney,
Captain, John Smith, Ensign — Enlisted men as follows:- Garab
Harding, William Jacobs, John HcCrery, Daniel Shehan, John
Churchwell, George Holliday, George Hill (bd in the Piney Creek
Presbyterian churchyard), William Gilmour, Patrick Murphy, Francis
Quinn, Samuel Wheeler, John Shank, James McKimsie, Thomas Gill,
William Calvert, John McClary, William Skagga, John Marshall,
Bennett Neall, John Test, Thomas Kirk, Jr., Minion Nichols,
William Cash, Jas. Burton, Thomas Burton, Thomas Hilleary, James
Beall, John Brease, Patrick Scott, William McKay, Zadock Griffith,
Henry Meroney, Henry Clements, Thomas Fenly, James McCormack,
Patrick Cannon, Charles Philpoy (Taylor), James Lowther, Henry
Berkshire (Deserted), John Maynard, James Beckett, James
Tannenhill, John Miller, James Bryant, Micheal Arran, James
Barrock, Christian Smith (of the Smith family of the ‘Cattail
Branch’, near Emmitsburg, MD.), James Donack, James Kelam, George
McDonald, James Hatchcraft, Jacob Holtz, Henry Smith (of the
Cattail Branch), Richard Wells, Elisha Rhodes, Paul Boyer, Samuel
Busey, John Kenneday, William Chandler, William Burton, Warren
Philpot, Christopher Wheelan, James Buller, John Jones, James
Carty, John Hutchison, Like Barnett, Samuel Silver, Edward Sehom,
Robert McDonald, James Mccoy, Richard Tounge, Herbert Shoemaker,
John (?)yer, Richard Fletcher, Joseph McAllen, Thomas Harrison,
John Alsop, Charles Dullis, Joshua Pearce (Pierce), Jacob Rhodes,
George Kelly, William Louden, Frederick Beard (interred in
Emmitsburg Elias Lutheran churchyard), Henry Fisher, James Hudson,
Michael Hall, John Price (Deserted), William Byor, Francis
Freeman, John Cash, William Hollings, Jacob Burton, and William
Barnett. — Enlisted men, 95, Officers, 2; Total, 97.”
Captain Philip
Maroney kept a copy of his famous
company roll
of the
Flying Camp
of the American Revolution, and it stayed in his family. One of
his descendants moved to Louisiana, and this record was carried
out of Maryland. In 1911 a descendant of Philip Maroney permitted
a copy of the original roll to be made. This was attested to as
authentic before a Notary Public and Judge John C. Motter. At that
time a copy was also placed with the D.A.R.
There are no
records of any habitants of Tom's Creek Hundred that served in the
Loyalist 1st Maryland Battalion that fought for the crown. There
are no records of any homecoming of the soldiers of the Game Cock
or Shield’s Companies that helped claim America’s Independence
because there was no official town of Emmitsburg at the time of
the Revolutionary War.
Tom's Creek
Hundreds Revolutionary War heritage is only a small footnote in
history books. Their deeds and contributions for independence are
ones that surely must be remembered. These are true American
heroes and the only monuments to honor these American heroes are
the gravestones that mark their grave. These are some of the
names of those who are buried in or near Tom's Creek:
-
Lieutenant
Colonel William Blair
- Captain
Benjamin Ogle
- Captain
Henry Williams
- 1st
Lieutenant John Farris
- 2nd
Lieutenant Michael Hockensmith
- 2nd
Lieutenant George Hockensmith
-
Lieutenant Ensign Jacob Hockensmith
- Sergeant
John Smith
- Corporal
John Crabbs
- Corporal
Arthur Row
- Corporal
William Elder
Read other articles on the Revolutionary War